Poppet valve



Patented July 19, 1932 f y l1,868,138

'nFoFFlcE EDWIN J. riemen cLEvELiiNnoHIo POPPET Applcationled April 10,

rlhis invention relates to valves of the type employed in internal combustion engines and explosive motors for use inf automobiles and the like. `The invention embodies a device mounted on or incorporated with the head ,of the valve to its advantage, and which device will increase the eiiiciency of the entireenne. Y f gl'lhis device, as shown, is in theform of a special cap which is preferably so constructed as to facilitate its mounting and replace-y ment onl existing valves without requiring any modification of the general design of such valves. One of the obj ectsof the invention is i5 to provide a device in connection with a valve for an internal combustion engine, which device willcheck the iiow of burnt gases through the exhaust port, slightly before-the valve has completely sealed, inclosing, thereby substantially` eliminating the possibility of the seating surface ofthe valve catching Vany foreign matterl or particles of carbon-enroute thru the veXhaustport and embedding it in the valve or the seat therefor. v

Another object of the invention is to pro: vide a heat insulating cap adapted to, be mounted on the head of apoppet valve, whichV cap will protect the entire valve structure against any distortionor warping out of its original shape by an internal or external stress or strain. Such stressesand strains are frequently set up in the valves, by reason of the valve head coming into direct contact with Y the intense heat of the explosion, the stem porl tion being comparatively cool because of its protected position.' A Y It is obvious thatthe valve, evenlthough guarded by my improved arrangement,will be subjected to more or -ess heat while in. use, i but this will largely comprise heat conducted by the engine parts coming in direct contact with the valve, and will bei comparatively uniform; that is, Vit will not vary enough to materially affect either the function or the" metallurgie structure of-the valve. Still another object of this invention is to provide a valve protecting device, including a cap or shroud, mounted directly over and completely covering the head of said valve, the valve toseat as ordinarily, yet which will,

VALVE. p l 1930. serial No. 443,078'.

of itself, effect a sealor closure for the'port in additionto that afforded by the valve per se.

In the forms "of the invention shown, the cap embodies a flexibility that-will permit it tosea-t properly even though the valve should l fail tovdogsoyet atjthe same time it offers, practically'noresistance to the'normal 'seating of the valve, permitting the' latter to seat properly, should the cap fail4 to do so, thereby insuring a perfect seal against leakage at all eo times.: y i

The preferred arrangements for lcarrying' out the abovevobjects A.will be fully set forth in the following detailed description relat-y ing to Athe accompanying drawing.` The essential characteristics of the invention will besummarized in the claims.

Y In the drawing,;Fig. 1 isa vertical section through a portionof anengineat' one of the valves,.}and showing one embodiment .of my invention in operative position. This view shows the valve in the closed position, like.- wise the cap; Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe cap; a portion' being broken awayito show a suitable -means for fasteningthe cap to the valve 75 Fig. Bvis'an enlarged view of the .cap and valve head in'crosssection inaccordance with the line 3-3 onFig. 2.` This iigurevshows the'valve in `the jopenposition. Figs. 4, 5, 6,

7 and 8 are vertical sectional views of modified 80 Y forms which willbe explained more in detail hereinafter. D A

The drawing shows, in a general way, a portion' of an internal combustion engine block 10 formed to provide av gas receiving 85 chamber l1 communicating through the usual valvev opening or yport 12 with theV usual com bustion chamber, the lower surface of which is .indicated at' 10. A valvc 13, 'normally` f closed, as by-a spring 16 encircling the valvey 9U stem 15, is `mountedl in the cylinder block 10 and may be operated through la tappet 17` by a cam 18 on the usual cam shaft 19. The present invention resides primarily in the cap indicated, in Fig. l, generally at 25, surmounting the valve 15. .The cap 25, as shown,` comprises la rigid disc member26, and a resilient disc 27 v held in place on'the valveby means of a screw 50. The disc 26, as shown,

1s dome-shaped to addmaterially .to its 10..

flange 27 on the disc 27.

strength, but it does not necessarily have to beso shaped. Itis also designed to grip the disc`27 at its periphery, Aas by reason ofja depending, inwardly directed flange 26, combining the two discs into one unit. Both -discs,26 and 27, are preferably formed by the usual punch and die process and can be joined i by'means of a stamping` die that will bend the flange ofthe Ydisc 26 to conform to the slight downwardly converging shapeV of a preventing such heat from drawing theV temper of the disc 27 linsuring itsv continued resiliency, and will ofv course protect y the valve 15-from the intense heat that-the entire assemblywill be subjected to, when in use.

' TheV disc 27 is ormedpreferably'of a' metal 'having a high resilient quality, and

may be provided with corrugations to add to the resiliencyv of the disc. -These are indi"-Y cated generally at 30and are preferably concentric witlr the peripheryof Vthe disc.;V The corrugations may be variouslyshaped` and.

spaced.' y c Y l j The disc 27 is providedwith an Vopening indicated at 35 to permitentrance of the head of a screw'50, the latter being suitably threaded into the valve head. .f The opening -is keyhole-shaped, and narrows at'36 to permit the opening in the disc 27 to it'snugly around the body 51 of the screw.V The disc 27 has'two tongue or projection members 40,

that vmay be bent downwardly from the niet-n al of the discso as to spring into Ythe usual slot 14 in thevalve 'head when the unit` 25 is 'slid into place on the valve head. The open-- lyV-lifted on the upward movement of the Valve 15. As shown, one of the corrugations L The disc p outer edge of the valve head as indicated at ing 36 inthe disc 27 may be provided witha tongue member 37 arranged to bear downvvardlyl on'the screw 50, preventing it `from turning relative to the valve head and becomingloose.

27, as-shown,is supported'by the 31, so that the entireA unit25 will be positive- 30provides the necessary abutment.4 TheA Lsupport 31 willialso help to'keep carboni from .collecting 'between' disc 27 and .valve head 13byjclos'ing the space just above the head, when the valve isflifted. Y

' Themodiiied form of cap shown in Fig'.

`4comprises a ilexible metal disc, indicated at 60, separated from thevalve head 13and supported lby a suitable heat insulating washer 61. The disc 60 lis surmounted by another lie-Xibledisc 62. "Interposed between the discs 60and62 is another disc 63 of `flex#l These flangesv 26w ible heat insulatinor material such forex-r f b 7 7 ample, as gasket asbestos with wire netting for reinforcement. is another disc 64 of smaller diameter, arranged to add to the strength of the central portion' of the assembled unit by'reiniforcing the central portion. The disc is shaped in such manner that it provides an air pocket 7l over `the valve head'when mounted onthe in valve: The ldiscs 62, 63 and 64 are, of course, made tov Vconform generally to the shape of lthedisc 60. The entire unit is shown as held Surmounting the whole in place'on the valve by means of a suitable Y screw 69. Any suitable means may be used to lock the screwl in place.'

Y The arcuate shape of shown in Fig. 4 permits the edge 66 to come in contact with the engine yblock 10,fwhen the valve 15 is in the 'closedl position shown. The :torceV of the explosion taking' place in the i 'combustion' chamber of the engine will exertV a'certain amount of pressureupon the en-` ',tire arcuatesurfaceof this cap, therebyVv in sui-ingv a perfect, seal between the edge 66 and the'engine block, even thoughl the heat j theff'ormof cap' of repeated explosions draws some of the temper from thefmeta'l discs and/or slightly Vwarps them.y

. The modified Jormshown, 5," comprises a `flexibleV metal disc 7 5 mounted on' the valve head 13, as by meansofa 'screw'7 6. Separating the central portion ofdisc 75-Y from the valve head 13 isV a'heat insulating `washer 77. vSeparating'the-peripheral edge of disc 75 from engine block is a. rin'g 78 of i suitable metal to provide high wearing qualf ity.- The ring 78 Vmaybe fastened rigidly, by any suitable means to thedisc 7 5. Sur# mounting the disc 7 5 and ring' 7 8l is another flexible disc 79 also underlying the'vscrew head.'` interposed between the discs 75 and 79 is a disc 8O of suitable heatv resisting material, asbestos for example.

A modification of this' invention, employing a'means tov obtainflexibility independently .of the materials forming the cap, butv i operatingin conjunction with it, is shown in Fig. 6. l v A l Y 'In this ligure, the valve head 13-is shown surmounted byv a rigidrdisc 85 having a peripheral surface of considerable vertical eX- tent, indicated at 86. Mounted directly over,

and covering the disc 85, is another substantially rigid'disc 87,' theflatter havingfa skirt y88 in sliding peripheral contact with the surface86. The twodiscs may be held ,on'ltheVV head by a suitable screw 90. The lower disc slides freelyon thescrew and is arranged to be' forceddownwardlyby Va coil spring 91 which, as shown,'obvi0usly acts to separate the two disc`s,\causing the lower edge V92 of j the'v disc 85 to yexert a predetermined seating 'force upon the block 10, when the valve is in `theclosed position.v When the valve is inthe process of closing, this llower edge of the needles disc 86 will seat upon engine block 10 slightly before the valve has seated.

Still another modification ofthe invention is shown in Fig. 7. This modification limits the capacity of the device to a cooling guard or cap for the valve head. In the form shown, a rigid cup-shaped disc 95 is mounted on the valve head 13, as by means of a suitable screw 96. A rigid cover disc ory cap 97 is mounted over the disc 95 and held in place by any suitable means at its periphery. One such fastening means is indicated at 98, comprising suitable mutually embracing annular bead formations on both discs.v The two members, 95 and 97, when assembled, for example as indicated, form a closed compartment 99 which can be employed for holding any suitable heat resisting material, such as asbestos, for example, or may contain only dead air, which is, of course, more or less effective as a heat insulator, being a poor heat conductor as compared to metals. Y

It will be noted that Fig. 4, for example, a'ords a heat insulating substantially dead air space between the cap and valve head, the head becoming the bottom wall for the air space. I mention this at this point, because it would be possible in the form of device illustrated by Fig. 7, to utilize the.

valve head as part of a double wall dead air container or space for insulating material.

In addition to the advantages above given for the device, the forms thereof shown in Figs. 1 to 6, for example, afford a further advantage in that the valve closing impact is cushioned by the cap coming into vyielding contact with the engine head surface 10 just before the valve 13 seats. This obviously saves considerable wear on the coacting seat surfaces, both on the block and valve.

Fig. 8 shows a still further modification of the invention in which the valve head 13a is modified to form an enlarged central depression which cooperates with a comparatively flat cap member 101 to provide a heat insulation space for protecting the valve.

The cap may be supported by a central boss 102 and insulating Washer 103. The cap member may have a bead or ange 105 at its outer edge to make contact with the engine block 10, preferably leaving a space between the cap and the top surface at the outer rim of the valve head. This form has a special advantage in that it does not decrease the capacity of the combustionchamber or disturb the continuity of the wall surfaces.

Vhile my invention is shown in connection with the usual poppet type of valve, it is to be understood that insofar as the novel arrangements and/or principles herein demonstrated may apply, I contemplate using the invention with other types of valves as"V well. It may be vvell'to note further that, while the devices shown are particularly ad vantageous in connection with the exhaust valves of an engine, most of these advantages hold true with relation to the intakevalves.

The protection afforded by my device against workingthe valves by'idirect contact with V the-explosion flame is just? as importantat theintalre as at the exhaust; In the useof practically `all 4forms shown,'-the devicesl used on the 'intake'valves will be foundfto materially assist in fully vapori'zing 'therfue'l by' presenting hot irregular surfaces thereto.`

'I claim: Y

'1. In combination with a valvel for an internal combustion engine, the valve having a head and a stem, means mounted on the valveoverlying the head and providing a continu-V ousskirtlying outwardlyfrom the seat-fof the head, to effect a closure in cooperation with the-valve head.

e 2. In combination' with av-alve for an in ternal combustion engine, said valve `having ahead, a resilient disc, mounted over the head, and-a seconddisc overlying the resil ber, said device having a portion thereof 'V adaptedV to seat on the interior surface of the chamberl as an auxiliary valveY or .closure member for the aperture, and being operated by the valve operating means through the intermediacy of the valve to open the chamber after said valve has opened and to close the chamber before the valve closes.

4. In combination, in an internal combustion engine, a valve having a head, a yielding cap member, `the central portion thereof being fixed to the head centrally thereof and having an outwardly extending portion adapted to engage and be supported by the interior surface of the combustion chamber to thereby insulate the valve fromthe heat of the chamber while the valveis closed, the member being arranged to be raised from the aforesaid contact by the said valve head when they latter is being raised to open theV chamber. Y.

5. In an VinternalV combustion 1 engine, a

valve having a main seating surface and an auxiliary seating surface, the auxiliary lseating surface being adapted to seat before the .l

main seating surface and to unseat after the main seating surface unseats. 6. As a new article of manufacture, a poppet valve having two seating surfaces, one surface being adapted to seat before the other and to unseat afterV the other. Y

7. In a poppet valve for an internal combustion engine, a main body including a head andstem, the head being recessed, and there being a metallic'plate mounted on the'head, substantially inthe plane of the head and of less thickness than the metal of the head, and forming with said recess an insulation space to protect portions of the said body Y from explosion heat in the combustion chamber of the engine. t A s 8.4Arpoppet1valve including an integral head and stem, the head being recessed on its; top side, and there being a relatively thin metal plate mounted on thel head substantially lin the plane thereof andcovering the IGCGSS. 1

' 9. Apoppet valve for aninternalcombusy tion engine, ycomprising a head and stem, the

head being recessed on the sidefthereof oppo-V i site the stemcand a relatively thin'metal plate substantially in the plane of the head and secured tothe valve and forming,Y with the recess of the head, a heatinsulating space. f

l0. A poppet valve comprising a stem and VaY head, a' recess vin .said head confined substantially Vthereto and a metalv plate ofless thickness than the Wall thickness of the head,

secured to the valve and covering said recess. In testimony whereofyI hereunto ax my A'DWINYV JI VrIsK.

signature. 

